So you can count yourself mighty lucky if you've ever seen one of the legendary 243mph monsters with your actual eyes.

Imagine, then, the epic levels of hysteria that erupted in Tuscany when a conga line of F1s - and their modern offspring - were seen snaking through the beautiful scenery around Siena, Italy.

The reason? A McLaren owners' private tour, which to the rest of the world looks rather like a high-end Red Letter day on steroids. We're told the tour was a relaxed affair: an opportunity for the old Maccas to stretch out their pistons in the sun as the owners meandered their way through Italy's wine region. Sounds terrible.

The ‘boggo' version of the McLaren F1 boasted a 6.1-litre BMW V12 engine developing 627bhp. That's enough to catapult its centrally mounted driver from 0-62mph in just 3.2 seconds and - where legal, naturally - onto a top speed of 243mph. The F1 GTRs you see in the pictures above saw the original Big Mac turned up to 11, thanks to the addition of monster aero appendages.

Luckily, for those of us who don't live in Tuscany, Martin Vincent and Emanuele Collo managed to capture the magical McLaren mystery tour with some brilliant photos.

So click/drool your way through the gallery above and tell us which one's your favourite.